Signing up for a cross-country scavenger hunt was meant to get Evian away from friends and family. With her best friend in her hotel room, and her fiance on another team, this didn’t work out as she’d planned. Nor did the family secrets that started popping up, or the odd events that seem to keep happening…

This is a story of a scavenger hunt, a ghostly figure, guns, and a baby zebra. Evian’s slow discovery of her family’s secret is believably handled, and her initial reaction a delight.

Written in first person and starting in media res, the book scoops you up into its story immediately. You don’t find the character’s names out until the second page, but by then their personalities are well-established and engaging. What trip are they talking about? Why are they arguing? Who are they? All questions I wanted answers to, and that kept me hooked. Then it kept me hooked with more important ones, like why does a certain person have a bone and bloodstained knife in their closet?

The author has a knack for describing the broad strokes of a character’s personality in a few words and then filling in the subtlties as you see more of them. Her style is engaging and fast with no wasted words, and some shrewdly written lines – “pray to the God of Traffic and Innocent Bystanders” – that bring personalities to life without slowing the action at all. This is a short book, but it covers the same amount of plot I’ve seen in much longer works.

Most of all this story in entertaining. I started this before sleep, planning to spread it over nights. I finished it in one, a little later than I should have, probably because it is when it comes down to it, an urban fantasy story.

The only false note this book struck with me was to do with consent: people who dislike date rape or consent issues may have problems with one section. It certainly made me see red, and there are no consequences to the person responsible (whose only regret is drugging the wrong pair of people).

That said, the spelling, grammar, and presentation are excellent, the cover a silhouette illustration that fits well with the rest of the series, and while this is the first book in a series, it can be read alone and stands up as a complete story in its own right. Though it may appeal more the women than men, the genre preference should outweight gender bias in this case. It is the start of a series, so if you enjoy this, consider picking up the rest.

Light urban fantasy fans? Read this. For those who like magic in the modern day, such a Charmed (or for older readers, Bewitched) it is great. Not for children, but teens and older should be more than able to enjoy this. I certainly did.